“I was recently suspended after standing together with my co-workers in our union,” said Zenon Delgado, a janitor at Ameriprise Financial Center in downtown Minneapolis and a member of the bargaining committee. “We’re tired of the stalling and the retaliation — we’re ready to move forward.”

Delgado and other members of their union, Service Employees International Union Local 26, met Saturday and decided to schedule the strike authorization vote.

The cleaning contractors have repeatedly rejected green cleaning innovations that could save building owners millions, while simultaneously demanding drastic health care cuts and the elimination of full-time jobs for Twin Cities janitors and their families, the union said.

“We have made every effort to make innovative, forward-looking proposals that would be a win-win for building owners and janitors,” said Javier Morillo-Alicea, president of SEIU Local 26. “It is unfortunate that the companies have responded by bargaining in bad faith and have pushed us into a public dispute that we sought to avoid.”

Janitors want to make green cleaning a reality in the Twin Cities by using only green chemicals that are safer for janitors and tenants, recycling more trash, and supporting a transition to day-shift cleaning that would save energy and reduce the carbon footprint of hundreds of buildings.

More than 4,000 janitors who clean the majority of commercial office buildings in the Twin Cities have been working without a contract since Jan. 8.